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DART - Preschool Early Intervention
What is DART
DART is an acronym that stands for Discovery, Assessment, Referral and Tracking. The purpose of the AIU's DART program is to find eligible children, ages three to five, who have developmental delays or disabilities. Our highly qualified staff of special educators, therapists, medical personnel, social workers, and psychologists deliver services to preschoolers with special needs and help support their families. Early Intervention services are free.
Our staff of specialists first provides free screenings/evaluations aimed at identifying each child’s strengths and needs. Appropriate early intervention services are then recommended and/or provided. Early intervention services include developmental, speech/language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, vision, hearing, and family services.
Eligibility
To receive DART services, children must be three to five years old and demonstrate a delay of 25 percent or more in one or more developmental areas. These developmental areas include personal/social, communication, adaptive, cognitive, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills. Standardized assessments are used to determine eligibility criteria.
Service Delivery
To meet the needs of the children in Allegheny County, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s DART Program delivers early intervention services in the least restrictive environment.
- Itinerant services are provided by a special education teacher and/or therapists at the child’s preschool, child care site, Head Start classroom, or home.
- Classroom-based programs and speech services are provided at elementary schools, churches, or community buildings.
- Early Intervention services are provided in approved private schools.
What Should I Do First?
Call 412-394-5904 to arrange a free screening/evaluation.
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Typically Developing Children (Integration Children)
- Typically developing children (Integration Children) attend the AIU's DART classrooms. They do not receive special education services, however, these children serve as role models for their peers.
- Preschool children ages 3-5 years seeking fun and friendship while learning in a developmentally appropriate, standards based environment that serves children of all ability levels, including those with special needs. *Your child must be at least three years old to be screened.
- Developmentally appropriate preschool which emphasizes the development of the whole child including the areas of cognition, social/emotional development, language, gross/fine motor. All teachers are state certified and follow the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards for Pre-Kindergarten.
- Various locations in Allegheny County serving school districts in the North, South, and East
- AM or PM sessions available
- Year round programming (Summer is optional)
- 4 days/week- $35 month
- 3 days/week- $30 month
- 2 days/week- $25 month
To enroll your child as an integration child please contact Patricia Shurtz at 412-394-5942.
- Before acceptance into the program, each child will be screened, free of charge, to determine the child’s developmental skills and speech skills. *Your child must pass both areas of the screening to be eligible for the integration program.
- If we discover that your child may have a potential developmental delay, your child will be referred for a more in-depth evaluation at a later date. We will provide in-depth assessment aimed at identifying your child’s individual needs, and recommend free appropriate early intervention services.*
DART Monthly Newsletter
September 2010
Summer 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
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